There is a certain frolicsomeness of intelligence and sensibility we have come to enjoy and expect in Irish born playwrights (Congreve, Sheridan, Shaw, and of course Wilde to name but four). What to the English pre-television mass audience had been a bitter pill of intellectualist theatre, in Irish hands had become sugared with a delight in language, prose at that, which still has the power to charm.
Read More“….Ginny Davis has struck what, for the fringe at least, is a sadly neglected seam of theatrical ore – the concerned middle classes, always wanting to do the right thing, trying to see the best in everybody and adapting to change with a relaxed stoicism….The effect is to add a kind of immediacy of the, ‘they’re making it up as they go along’ sort, to a play which has wit and charm in equal measure and which, like a Joyce Grenfell monologue or a Posy Simmonds cartoon will have audiences giggling with the delight of recognition.”
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“…Niamh Cusack literally and metaphorically rolls her sleeves up as the embodiment of long-suffering Irish womanhood in a role which comfortably extends her range well beyond that with which her TV audience will be familiar. Her final cri de coeur as a bereaved mother is one that has sadly echoed down the ages, but for all that retains its power to move.”
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Few dramatists can lay a claim to be ‘actor proof’, in the sense that the lines in their plays or their plots do all the work and that however much a company sets out to mangle the playwright’s intentions, something wonderful will shine through. Fewer still go the extra mile and demand a particular kind of approach – indeed a particular kind of delivery – in order to unlock whatever treasure may lie within…Peter McKIntosh’s set is the kind you would like to move into as it sets the action firmly in the comfortable home counties.
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“…This is a bitter comedy about tradition, culture and identity, but what sets it apart from the usual fare of young adults looking to set their own cultural agenda is that it is not inter-generational. The two main combatants in the battle of minds and wills are cousins of the same age…What lifts this play from worthy mediocrity is the passion of the characters. No holds are barred, as perceived faults are vitriolically dredged up. In this the author is well served by a strong cast and sure handed directing….With this powerful comedy the Ustinov has scored again with a play of substance and quality.”
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